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Old Bare Back 



OLD 

BARE-BACK 

AND OTHERS 



By 
HENRY ABBOT 



NEW YORK 
1917 






Copyright 1917 

by 

HENRY ABBOTT 



©CU481027 

DEC 18 1917 



///^ T0P HER! stop her!! back 
* * ^^ up, Bige. I've caught the 
* j bottom of the lake." Bige 
was sitting in the bow of 
the boat slowly rowing, while I, in 
the stern seat was holding a trol- 
ling rod and watching the reel spin 
and the thin copper wire rapidly pay- 
ing out as the boat glided forward, 
Bige dropped both oars in the water 
and pushing back, promptly stopped 
the boat, but the reel continued to 
buzz and it was nearly empty of 
wire. Then I pressed hard with my 
thumb checking the rotation of the 
reel when a violent jerking informed 
me that something alive was trying 
to steal my six-inch shiner, which 
during the last fifteen minutes had 
been revolving with the hook at the 
lower end of the copper wire, thirty- 
five feet below the surface. 

3 



It was a warm morning early in 
July and we were fishing for lake 
trout. The water was too warm at 
this season to get them near the sur- 
face, so we had to fish deep in the 
cool water near the bottom where 
the trout were then living if we hoped 
to catch any. Copper wire is best for 
deep trolling because it sinks quick- 
ly without a heavy weight at the low- 
er end and it cuts readily through the 
water without too great a strain on 
the rod. 

I had out about fifty yards of wire 
and began to reel in as fast as pos- 
sible without endangering the rod, 
the tip of which was now at a right 
angle with the butt. At this moment 
I heard directly overhead a succes- 
sion of sharp cries "Kidl! Kiel! Kireel! 
Bil! Eil! Ken!" Looking up I saw a 
gull circling directly over the boat, 

4 



apparently in a great state of excite- 
ment, uttering her sharp cries every 
few seconds. She was also rapidly get- 
ting closer as she flew above us. 
Even as I looked, she made a quick 
sweep downward, struck Bige on the 
head and knocked his hat off into the 
water. At the same instant a great 
silver-sided body glistening in the 
morning sunshine rose above the 
surface away back of the boat, ap- 
pearing to stand on its tail and shake 
its head violently; then it fell back 
with a resounding splash and disap- 
peared under the water. I raised the 
tip of the rod, quickly took up the 
slack with the reel and found the 
fish still securely hooked, but he now 
headed for the bottom. 

"There, Bige, is a regular old 
Socktamer." 

"He's three sizes bigger than that/' 

5 



said Bige. 'Tie's a Dodwalloping 
Sockdolliger." 

Again I heard the sharp cries over- 
head. "Kiel! Kiel!" and put up my 
free arm just in time to receive a 
blow from the enraged bird and save 
my own hat. 

"That gull has got it in for us, 
Bige. She thinks we want to steal 
her measly yellow goslings over by 
that big rock near the shore. Better 
pull out of this, but go slow and I 
will try to coax the trout along. I'm 
too busy now to try to negotiate 
peace terms with a belligerent gull 
and I can't fight a fish and a bird at 
the same time." So Bige gathered in 
his hat and we slowly worked our 
way out of the bay toward the mid- 
dle of the lake, while the mother gull 
alighted on a dead pine stub directly 
over where her four darlings were 

6 



playing in the water, and the father 
gull stood on a rock at the entrance. 
Later we became well acquainted 
and very friendly with those gulls, 
as will appear in another chapter, but 
now and for the following twenty 
minutes we were kept occupied with 
the fish. We towed him about the lake 
trying to keep him always in motion, 
though he was inclined to sulk at 
the bottom. Twice he tried to climb 
out of the water, but in each case he 
was tipped over and did not get above 
the surface. Finally he was tired out, 
reeled up alongside and with the gaff 
lifted into the boat. He was a noble 
fish, a beauty, and we took him into 
camp. 

Many of my friends and acquaint- 
ances fish all day and every day dur- 
ing their vacation period; when the 
weather is not too stormy. Starting 

7 




The Lake Trout 



from the hotel early in the morning 
and returning to the same place late 
at night, they industriously, patiently 
and seriously work, with the obvious 
purpose of breaking all previous rec- 
ords both as to size and number of 
their catch. 

But Bige and I live in the woods 
and do not return to the hotel for a 
week, sometimes for two or three 
weeks. We cannot, therefore, display 
our large catch to the admiring gaze 
of friends and acquaintances. Neither 
do we have the same opportunity to 
hang up our string of fish between 
two trees for the camera fiends to 
take snap shots at them. Therefore, 
when we have caught enough fish for 
food we stop fishing and play some 
other game. 

Impossible to tell the length of 
our lake-trout or his weight in 

9 



pounds and ounces, but we dressed 
him and when his head and tail were 
cut off we found he just exactly fit- 
ted the pan of our baker. He was just 
big enough. If he had been an inch 
longer we could not have roasted 
him. So we stuffed him with flap- 
jacks, covered him above and below 
with slices of bacon, bound the bacon 
in place with twine and roasted our 
fish before the camp fire. 

After dinner we took a couple of 
axes and went over to Mud Pond. 
Pound a boat which some days be- 
fore we had carried across the trail, 
and in it crossed the pond and start- 
ed cutting a new trail over the foot 
hills of Little Blue Mountain. We in- 
tended to hunt over in that country 
in the autumn and this trail would 
be useful in going to and returning 
from the hunt. I worked ahead, blaz- 

10 



a 

o 
n 

m 

H 

s 




ing the trees, keeping the proper 
course with a compass while Bige fol- 
lowed, cutting brush and clearing a 
path. 

In this manner we worked along 
for about a half mile when we came 
upon an open space in the woods 
where some years before lumbermen 
had skidded logs. There was about an 
acre in the clearing now overgrown 
with briars and bushes. In the mid- 
dle of this opening, standing upright 
on his hind legs, was a large black 
bear. He had his arms (forelegs) 
around a clump of raspberry busites 
which he had squeezed together and 
was eating berries. Indeed, he bit off 
and chewed up together ripe berries, 
green berries, leaves and young 
shoots and was apparently enjoying 
the feast. 

The bear had not noticed our ap- 

12 



proach and we were able to get near 
enough to observe him closely. On 
his back were large patches of bare 
skin from which the fur had come 
out or had been rubbed off. This, it 
seems, was the molting season for 
bears, when the old fur is gradually- 
scraped off on the trees and bushes. 
In late September or early October 
the new short fur will have grown 
in again, and the bear will then have 
a bright shiny coat in strong contrast 
to his present ragged hobo appear- 
ance. This fur continues to grow un- 
til in mid-Winter the hairs of it are 
from three to four inches long. Pres- 
ently the bear had finished eating his 
bunch of bushes and berries and 
turned, looked us over carefully, 
dropped on all four feet, growled and 
walked off into the woods toward 
Mud Pond while we watched him as 

13 



long as he remained in view. 

Then when Bruin was out of sight 
Bige said softly "Les set a trap and 
catch Old Bare- back/' We sat 
down on a log and discussed ways 
and means. Bige had a bear trap, an 
ugly, murderous-looking steel ma- 
chine that opened out as large in 
diameter as a dinner plate. It had saw 
tooth jaws that fitted together when 
closed and heavy steel springs that 
required two screw clamps to close 
them down for setting the trap. It 
also was secured to one end of a chain 
about six feet long, the other end of 
the chain was to be attached to a log 
which could be dragged a short dist- 
ance or until the bear should tire of 
it and would sit down to await our 
arrival. 

In discussing the matter we spoke 
in low tones so that the bear should 

14 



►3 

s 




not overhear us in case he had stop- 
ped in the edge of the woods to list- 
en. It was agreed that the skin would 
be worthless for a rug if taken now, 
so we decided to defer setting the 
trap until October, but we would be- 
gin at once to feed him and get him 
accustomed to the bear-pen in which 
we proposed to set the trap. It was 
important also to keep the bear in 
this part of the forest until October, 
and it seemed to be our job to see to it 
that it was good feeding ground so 
he would remain there. 

So we dropped our trail-making for 
the time being and set to work build- 
ing a bear pen. We cut a number of 
spruce logs twelve feet long and six 
inches in diameter, notched the ends 
for locked corners in the same man- 
ner as in constructing a log cabin. 
We selected a spot in the woods near 
the clearing where a group of spruce 

1G 



trees could be utilized to brace Up 
the sides of the pen, or rather the 
stall, as it was open on one side so 
that Old Bare-back could walk di- 
rectly in and get the food we proposed 
to bring him twice every week. 

On our way back to camp we found 
tracks made by Old Bare-Back in the 
soft clay on the shore of Mud Pond- 
On a close inspection we noticed that 
the middle toe on the left hind foot 
was missing. Only four toe marks ap- 
peared in the clay wherever this foot 
was placed, while all the other tracks 
showed five toe marks. 

On the following morning after 
breakfast had been eaten, the dishes 
washed and camp put in order, Bige 
and I went down the lake to Sucker 
Bay and in about an hour we had 
caught fifteen suckers ranging in 
size from one to two pounds each. 
The sucker is not considered good 

17 



food for humans in summer time. 
Indeed lie is not counted a game fish 
at any time, and is generally despised 
by all sportsmen. But suckers are 
highly esteemed by the bear family, 
especially if they have been dead 
long enough to be a little "high." 
Suckers have a bad habit of eating 
the spawn of more valuable fishes. 
A two-pound sucker will eat about a 
thousand trout eggs a day when he is 
feeling well. We had therefore no 
sentimental feelings of regret that it 
seemed to be necessary for us to 
catch a big string of suckers, so we 
took them over and placed them in 
Bare-back's stall. 

We took with us a small tin pail 
and after depositing the bear bait we 
visited his berry patch and filled oui 
pail with raspberries before return- 
ing to camp. We considered this an 

18 



equitable arrangement. Of course the 
bear was not consulted, but the mess 
of suckers we left him weighed more 
than the mess of berries we took 
away from him. 

Arrived at camp just as the 
sun was dropping behind the 
mountains in the west, we took a fly 
rod and paddled across the lake to 
the mouth of Salmon River, where in 
the fading light we tried fly casting. 
In less than an hour we had caught 
six fine "square-tails." We ate our 
evening meal by lantern and firelight 
that night; but our bill-of-fare in- 
cluded brook trout and raspberry 
shortcake, flapjacks supplying the 
cake of that confection. 

After a day of such activities in the 
open, a bed of balsam before a camp- 
fire is an insurance against insomnia. 
It is also a cure for many other ills, 
both real and imaginary. One can 

19 



always sleep the sleep of an infant. 
Also, one soon learns to go early to 
bed, so as to be ready to enjoy the 
best part of the next day, sunrise. 

In the warmer days of summer, 
when the water is often low in the 
streams, the larger brook trout will 
run down stream into the lake and 
collect near the bottom in deep 
places, at spring holes or at the edge 
of a reef, so when the fly or the trol- 
ling line fails to bring the necessary 
supply of food to the camp table, re- 
sort must be had to other methods 
and the wily trout must be hunted in 
his lair. Preparing for such an emer- 
gency, Bige and I set out on the fol- 
lowing morning with a piece of rope 
and a sounding line, selected a stone 
suitable for an anchor and cut a dry 
spruce stick for a buoy. We then 
climbed into our boat and went out to 

20 



take soundings. After a score or 
more of trials we found a spot of 
proper depth and likely bottom, so 
dropped our anchor stone overboard 
and made the float fast to the other 
end of the rope. Then we went back 
to our landing and lifted the minnow 
trap which had been baited with a 
chunk of bread and sunk in the shal- 
low water. We got a good supply of 
minnows and proceeded to cut them 
into pieces about an inch long and 
scattered the chum around our buoy. 
While we were busy with this job 
we heard in a high pitched key a 
weird, sorrowful, sobbing, distressful 
cry from the distant side of the lake. 
"Alloo-o-o-o Lil-iil-o-o-o." Bige im- 
mediately responded by a perfect im- 
itation of the cry. Indeed the imita- 
tion was more perfect than the orig- 
inal. Again came the loon's cry of 

21 



distress, but this time nearer. Again 
and again was the conversation re- 
peated while the loon approached. At 
a distance of about fifty yards she 
was swimming low with only her 
head out of water and eyeing our 
operations with apparent interest. 
Suddenly the head disappeared and 
after what seemed several minutes 
Bige said, '1 believe the old sub- 
marine has gone down to steal our 
churn." Then he grabbed a water 
telescope which we had made of 
birch bark for examining the bottom 
of the lake, stuck the large end into 
the water and with his eyes at the 
smaller end plainly saw the loon at 
the bottom of the lake rapidly gob- 
bling up the cut bait we had put down 
there for the trout. When she came 
to the surface again, she was on the 
opposite side of the boat and a long 
22 



way off with her periscope only vis- 
ible. 

The loon is poorly equipped for tra- 
veling on land and rarely goes far 
from the water except when flying. 
Her nest is always built close to the 
water's edge, but she can swim fast- 
er, dive quicker and stay under water 
longer than any other bird or beast. 
She also has the peculiar faculty of 
swallowing just enough water for 
ballast to keep her at the required 
depth; she also disgorges ballast 
when she swims on the surface. Gen- 
erally, in the presence of danger or 
of suspicious characters like fisher- 
men, she swims with only her head 
above water. 

There can be no doubt that the 
general principles embodied in the 
modern submarine were taken from 
the loon. The loon has a large body 

23 ' 



but she hides it under water and 
sticks her periscope above the sur- 
face to take observations until as- 
sured that the coast is clear of dan- 
ger. So also with the submarine. The 
most wonderful modern inventions of 
man can generally be shown to have 
had their origin in the habits of birds, 
beasts, fishes, or the properties of 
some inanimate work of Nature. 

About the time the loon left us our 
old friend of two days before, the gull, 
appeared uttering her peculiar cries 
of complaint overhead. This time we 
discussed the matter with the gull 
and proposed a treaty of peace with 
her. In order to show our friendly 
feelings Bige tossed out one of our 
few remaining minnows which the 
gull caught the instant it hit the 
water. The other minnows followed 
one at a time, and were gobbled up 

24 



with no fumbling or lost motion. 
When we made the bird understand 
that we had given up our last fish 
she croaked a word of thanks and 
flew away. After that whenever we 
went fishing on the lake the gull ap- 
peared and requested to be fed, and 
we made it a point of honor to see 
that she had either some scraps from 
the camp table or something from 
the minnow trap. 

One day a white-headed eagle ap- 
peared over the lake and sailed 
around very high in the air. The two 
parent gulls seemed very much agit- 
tated. They were evidently anxious 
for the safety of their young birds, 
for they immediately started in pur- 
suit of the eagle. The eagle, though 
very much larger than the gull, and 
a fierce fighter, was so much slow- 
er in his movements that he was al- 

25 



ways at a disadvantage. The gulls 
flew above the eagle most of the 
time and would suddenly dart down- 
ward, whack him on the head and 
get away before he could swing in- 
to position to strike back. Many 
times around and around the lake 
the flying fight went on, and on sev- 
eral occasions the two gulls got in 
blows on the eagle's head or back 
in rapid succession and feathers 
floated away after each jab, but I 
failed to see a single blow land on a 
gull, though the eagle struck at them 
many times. 

After about fifteen minutes of this 
zeppelin and aeroplane fight the 
eagle gave up the battle and sailed 
away over the mountain top, the 
gulls following him out of sight. 
When the gulls returned some time 
later, they sat on the limb of the 

26 



pine stub and polished up their 
feathers. Bige and I gave them three 
cheers and they responded "Kiel, 
kiel!" 

Some weeks later we were wit- 
nesses of the first lesson in flying; 
saw the mother gull push the young 
ones off a big rock and compel them 
to use their wings. Then one day 
after the young birds could fly a lit- 
tle, they were brought around to 
where Bige and I were fishing and 
they were shown how to sail around 
overhead without a motion of the 
wings and how to sweep downward 
and grab a minnow when we threw 
it out on the water. They were apt 
pupils in this game and learned it 
very quickly. 

Early one morning in mid-Sep- 
tember we heard a great commotion 
among the gulls and ran down to 

27 



the shore of the lake to see what was 
wrong. There we saw the entire fa- 
mily of gulls, old and young, circling 
around the big pine stub and all 
shouting at each other, "Kiel, kiel, 
kiel." As we watched they all began 
climbing in corkscrew curves higher 
and higher until they were mere 
specks directly overhead, then they 
shot forward in single file toward the 
southeast. They were headed for the 
harbor of the big city near the ocean 
four hundred miles away, where the 
scavenger is loaded onto big scows, 
is towed down to the lower bay and 
is sanitarily (?) dumped just in time 
to float back on the incoming tide to 
furnish food for the gulls and hun- 
dreds of their fellows who grow fat 
and live happily together until the fol- 
lowing spring, when they pair off and 
go back to the mountains to build 
23 



other nests. 

On the third day after we had de- 
posited food in Old Bare-back's stall, 
we went over the trail to Mud Pond 
with another batch of suckers. Ar- 
riving at the shore of the pond we 
discovered that our boat was mis- 
sing, and though we looked in every 
improbable place it could not be 
found. Some days later we learned 
that a party of law-breaking night 
hunters from Blue Mountain Lake 
had "borrowed" the boat and had re- 
turned it to a spot about two miles 
away on the other side of the pond 
near the outlet. Just now it seemed 
to be necessary, in order that we keep 
our engagement with the bear, that 
we should walk along the shore and 
around the upper end of the pond 
to reach our destination. It was a 
long way, there was no trail and the 

29 



walking was not good. We were not 
feeling very pleasant about it, and 
Bige was saying things about what 
he would do to the fellows who stole 
our boat. 

Life in the woods affords few dis- 
comforts that do not bring compen- 
sating advantages. In this case, had 
we not been obliged to walk we 
should surely have missed an oppor- 
tunity of witnessing a "Movie'* in 
real life that is seldom shown even 
to a professional woodsman, and one 
well worth the price of admission. 

We were approaching a point of 
land that extended several rods out 
into the pond and terminated in a 
steep bank about twenty feet high. 
Prom the opposite side of this bank 
came sounds of a plunge and splash 
of water, followed immediately by 
two similar but less loud plunges. 

30 



Then after an interval of a minute 
or less the same succession of sounds 
were repeated. We sneaked quietly 
and cautiously back into the woods 
and made a detour so as to approach 
in view of the opposite side of the 
high bank. Arrived behind a clump 
of bushes through which we peered 
we saw an otter toboggan-slide with 
an old mother otter and two half- 
grown cubs in the act of shooting 
down the steep bank and diving into 
the water at the bottom of the slide, 
then swimming ashore and scram- 
bling up the bank uttering faint 
squeals of pleasure and immediately 
scooting down again. This was re- 
peated again and again for several 
minutes when they became aware 
of our presence and disappeared un- 
der water, and we saw them no more. 
There was a deep round-bottomed 

31 



furrow worn smooth in the clay on 
the side of the bank, and it was quite 
wet and slippery. A quantity of water 
soaked in the fur on the otter's body 
was carried up with each trip and 
kept the slide well lubricated. We 
noticed that in sliding the fore-legs 
of the animals were held close 
against their sides and these, as well 
as the hind legs, were pointed 
straight back. This position made the 
long slender body of the otter ap- 
pear to be much longer than it real- 
ly was. Who shall presume to deny 
that the inventor of the toboggan- 
slide stole his game from the otter, 
who has doutbless practiced it for 
many thousands of years? The prin- 
cipal difference being that whereas 
the otter slides on his own stomach 
the human animal must ride on one 
made of wood. 
32 



We found fresh bear tracks along 
the shore of the pond and in each 
case the imprint of the left hind foot 
showed but four toes. We also found 
that Bruin had been digging wild 
turnips in his garden patch. Arrived 
at the log cache we saw that the 
suckers were gone; the ground in- 
side and around the stall was 
scratched and torn up, clearly the 
work of Old Bare-back. He had also 
put up his notice on a nearby spruce 
tree. 

The black bear has a habit of 
marking trees in places that he fre- 
quents. Just why he does this we 
shall learn definitely some day when 
mind reading is extended from hu- 
mans to wild animals; until then we 
shall speculate. A patch of bark of 
irregular shape but about twelve in- 
ches across had been torn from this 

33 



tree trunk about six feet above 
ground, and there were marks of the 
bear's teeth in the wood. He doubt- 
less stood on his hind legs and 
stretched himself to his utmost 
height in making those tooth marks 
in the wood of the tree. 

Translated from bear language in- 
to the United States tongue that 
notice would read — 



WARNING 

/ am a big black bear. I can 

reach up to here. This patch of 

woods belongs to me. I will lick 

any bear that trespasses on 

my preserves. Any suckers that 

may be left here are mine. I will 

kill any other animal that touches 

them. Whoof! Gr-gr-r-grow 1 1 

{Signed) BARE-BACK 

his X mark 
_ 



The black bear has 
four canine tusks, 
two on the upper and 
two on the lower 
jaw. These project 
usually from an inch 
to an inch and a half 
beyond the face of 
the other teeth and 
are ugly- looking 
weapons that, on oc- 
casion, might be very 
effective. A close ex- 
amination of the 
notice of warning 
showed deep grooves 
across the fibre of 
the wood. Most of 
these tooth marks 
were V-shaped, but 
a few were flat-bot- 
tomed and appeared 




as if made by a carpenter's chisel 
about a quarter of an inch wide. Bige 
said "I thought the old brute had 
been caught in a trap, now I am sure 
of it. He broke one of his tusks bit- 
ing on the steel trap and he lost one 
toe pulling his foot out of its jaws." 

Each time we brought suckers to 
Bare-back, he ate them and took a 
fresh bite out of the spruce tree, 
though we did not meet him. During 
the summer we destroyed enough 
suckers to save the lives of many 
millions of unhatched trout and thus 
contributed to the conservation of 
game and food fishes. 

On a Saturday we returned to 
Deerland Lodge to prepare for an 
exploring trip up in the Santononi 
country, and it became necessary to 
suspend the feeding operations for 
a couple of weeks. We expected to 

36 



make a long hike in a country where 
traveling was difficult. We had a tent 
to carry as well as provisions and 
extra blankets for the cold nights in 
the higher altitude, so we took 
George with us. George could not 
only help in carrying packs but he 
was an experienced woodsman and 
was familiar with the Santanoni 
mountains and foot hills. We made 
a start on Monday morning. Oaky 
took us in his motor boat about 
twelve miles down the lake, towing 
our guide boat astern. After a row 
of a mile and a half we took to the 
woods headed for Round Pond. An 
hour's tramp brought us in sight of 
the pond. Skirting its northern shore, 
two and a half miles more took us to 
Deer Pond where we met the New- 
comb Tote Road which leads to a 
string of lumber camps distributed 

37 



over the northern slopes of Santanoni 
Mountains. 

Our path now led for about four 
miles through a section that had 
been burned over during the previ- 
ous autumn. A forest fire leaves in 
its wake a scene of complete desola- 
tion most depressing to one who is 
fond of the woods. Thousands of 
blackened half -burned tree trunks lie 
criss-crossed in every conceivable 
position, while here and there still 
standing, naked, bare of limbs and 
dead, pointing in mute protest to 
high heaven, are the charred remains 
of once noble pine or spruce trees. 
As far as the eye can reach in every 
direction no green thing appears to 
relieve the utter blackness. Not a 
sound is heard except our own foot- 
steps. One involuntarily speaks, 
when speech is necessary, in a 

38 



hushed tone of voice, as in the pres- 
ence of the dead. There are no birds 
and no other living creature is met 
in this entire burned district. 

It has been the writer's privilege 
to see three large cities immediately 
after very destructive and historic 
fires had occured; viz:- Chicago, 
Baltimore and San Francisco. In nei- 
ther case was the sense of depress- 
ion caused by the vision of ruin com- 
parable with that produced by walk- 
ing through a burned forest. The 
burned cities were rebuilt in a few 
years more expensively, and were 
then more beautiful than before. It 
will take a hundred and fifty years 
to restore the burned forest. 

About mid-day we passed out of 
the burned section and into the cool 
shade of the big woods. We made a 
fire, cooked and ate our lunch of 

40 



bacon, eggs and coffee, on the shore 
of Moose Creek. 

An hour after luncheon as we were 
quietly following the path in Indian 
file, Bige who was in the lead called 
out in a hoarse whisper, "Sufferin' 
Mike! will you look at that deer?" 
"Hist, Bige," said George, "the old 
lady is saying her prayers." A large 
yellow birch tree had fallen during a 
storm a few days before. The splint- 
ered stump still held its trunk about 
eighteen inches above the ground. 
Close to this tree trunk was kneel- 
ing, with her head under the tree, a 
large doe. The attitude was that of 
worshipful devotion and her head 
was bowed, not only to but under 
the altar. We stood, rigid and mo- 
tionless as three statues (a little lop- 
sided for monuments by reason of 
our packs) at a respectful distance 

41 



of about fifty feet and with hats re- 
moved, awaited the conclusion of 
the ceremony. 

Presently the deer gracefully re- 
sumed an upright position and re- 
versing her head without turning the 
body, stood looking back directly 
over her tail with an expression of 
complete amazement. In this posi- 
tion the deer also froze into a statue 
and the tableau was held motionless 
for an incredible period of time, un- 
til the ludicrous aspect of the situa- 
tion so overcame three members of 
the group that an explosion of laugh- 
ter broke up the show and the doe 
bounded away through the trees. An 
examination proved that the deer 
had been eating mushrooms which 
were growing under the trunk of the 
fallen birch and was obliged to get 
down on her knees in order to reach 
them. 

42 



In the middle of the afternoon a 
shower came up quite suddenly. Our 
ponchos were used to keep the blan- 
kets and grub dry and we stood un- 
der a tree to await the passing of the 
shower. But the storm did not abate, 
it rather increased and soon the tree 
was wet through and so were we. 
Then we resumed our tramp while 
the rain poured down in bucketfuls; 
the w r ater running down our legs 
filled our shoes and we slosh-sloshed 
for an hour or more, when we ar- 
rived at an abandoned lumber shanty 
on the shore of Cold River. This was 
not a good time to set up a tent so 
we turned into the shanty. There was 
a broken-down stove, two of the legs 
were gone so we got some stones, 
propped it up, fastened the smoke 
pipe together and soon had a fire 
where we could dry our clothes and 

43 



cook supper. We climbed a ladder to 
the loft where were rows of bunka 
filled with hay. These we examined 
closely and found that although the 
lumber jacks had not slept in them 
for several years they were still oc- 
cupied. So we spread our blankets 
on the long dining table and soon 
were sleeping the sleep of the tired. 
Twice during the night George got 
down from his perch to use a club 
on some porcupines that had climbed 
through a sashless window and were 
trying to steal our grub. 

The weather was clear on the fol- 
lowing morning, and after the sun 
had dried off the wet bushes we con- 
tinued our march up the river about 
five miles when we came to a clear- 
ing where had stood another log 
shanty used by the lumbermen but 
which had been burned a few years 

44 



before. Here Bige set up the tent 
while George picked wild strawber- 
ries and I went fishing. The river was 
swollen by the rain of yesterday and 
the water too high for the fish to bite, 
but in a brook that emptied into the 
river at this clearing I had good luck 
and returned in an hour with a fine 
string of brook trout to find that 
Bige had camp in perfect order and 
George had two quarts of strawber- 
ries. Within a half hour we were sit- 
ting down to a lunch the like of which 
cannot be had in any hotel, restau- 
rant or club of my acquaintance, and 
I have visited several of each in my 
wanderings. 

After an early breakfast on the 
following morning, with George for 
guide, we tramped about four miles 
back into the hills through a 
very interesting stretch of forest to 

45 



visit "The Mud Baths." We found in 
a basin in the center of a swamp a 
circular pool of soft mud about the 
consistency of thin mortar and about 
thirty yards in diameter. Approach- 
ing cautiously we saw in the center 
of the pool and apparently floating 
on the surface of the mud the horns, 
ears and part of the head of a large 
buck deer. The eyes and nose were 
visible, but the rest of the head and 
the entire body of the animal was out 
of sight. 

We advanced to the edge of the 
swamp, close to the mud pool, but 
there was no movement of the horns. 
"Do you suppose he is dead, George, 
or is he just stalled in the mud so he 
can't get out? Suppose we get some 
spruce poles and pry him loose?" 
For answer, George threw a stone at 
the head. The mud splashed up m 

46 



the exposed face but nothing else 
happened. Then we all took a hand 
at throwing stones and sticks. After 
several failures a stone hit one of 
the horns, when with a mighty heave 
the shoulders appeared, then the hind 
quarters came above the surface. 
The deer had been lying down but 
was now standing in mud about three 
feet deep. He struggled forward with 
some difficulty toward the opposite 
shore, urged onward by some more 
stones, the soft mud streaming down 
his sides and legs. Stopping on shore, 
he turned, gave us a sad, reproachful 
stare, then ambled off into the woods, 
scraping mud off on the bushes at 
every step. We had disturbed the old 
boy in the act of taking the treat- 
ment which Nature had provided for 
his bodily ailments, and he was reluct- 
ant to leave before he had completed 

47 



the dose. 

It was a hot morning, the mud was 
cold (we later learned that there 
was a spring in the bottom of the 
pool) ; doubtless it felt comfortable 
and did in reality reduce the temper- 
ature of his feverish body and would, 
in time, with repeated applications 
restore the deer to perfect health. 
We were sorry now that we had driv- 
en him out. 

We examined the place thoroughly, 
walked entirely around the pool and 
in the woods at the edge of the 
swamp. A little brook ran away from 
it at the lower edge, and the water 
was cold. There were literally hun- 
dreds of deer trails leading into the 
pool from every direction. They radi- 
ated from the center like spokes of 
a wheel, and everywhere the bushes 
and paths were smeared with drip- 

48 



ping mud. Judging from appearances 
this health resort was very popular 
and had a large clientele. It is pos- 
sible and quite probable that other 
animals visit this mud spring on oc- 
casion, but we saw only deer tracks. 

We returned now to Strawberry 
Camp and on succeeding days visited 
Bradley Pond, Duck Hole, Mountain 
Pond, Lumber Dam, Natural Dam, 
The Big Eddy, Latham Pond and 
Boulder Brook. Our tent was moved 
several times during the twelve days' 
outing. We saw many interesting 
things, caught as many trout as we 
could use and enjoyed every minute 
of the time. 

When we arrived at Deerland 
Lodge on a Saturday, we learned that 
on the previous Wednesday night one 
of Mr. Brown's flock of eight sheep 
which he kept to mow the grass on 

49 



the glof links had been killed, and 
several dogs were under suspicion. 
On the following night another sheep 
was dead and badly mutilated. On 
Friday night the fence around the 
pig-pen up by the woods had been 
broken down and one of the half- 
grown pigs had been carried away. 
Also bear tracks were found near the 
brook that ran through the field 
where the hogs were confined. 

Bige and I hurried up to the hog- 
pen to examine those tracks. Our 
suspicions were speedily confirmed. 
There was the indisputable evidence. 
The tracks of one hind foot showed 
only four toe marks. Old Bare-back 
was surely the guilty party and he 
must be punished, but, first, we must 
feed him with more suckers to keep 
him away from the pigs. 

One day at the village store, the 

50 



proprietor, Judge S., said he had 
some smoked halibut that was too 
ancient to be used by the villagers 
and suggested that Bige and I offer 
it to our bear; so we loaded the stuff 
into the boat and took it over to 
Bare-back. He smelled it from afar 
and came running, compelling us to 
hurry away for fear of being treated 
as trespassers. 

Early in September a fire started in 
the Pine Brook section and burned 
for many days, filling the forest 
around with dense smoke. Old Bare- 
back became alarmed, left his reserv- 
ation and moved over into the next 
township. He never came back and 
Bige's bear trap was never set in the 
place constructed for it. 

One day in the following January, 
Bige and Bill on their snowshoes 
were following their trapping line to 

51 



gather in the fur from animals 
caught in their string of fifty or sixty 
traps. They had gone up "East Inlet 
Holler'' had crossed the divide near 
the peak of Burnt Mountain, followed 
down Palls Brook Valley and were 
headed for Salmon Pond and Tongue 
Mountain. They had the skins of a 
fox, a fisher, two marten and three 
minks, and had completed about one 
half of their round trip when they 
came upon bear tracks in the snow. 
This was strange and most unusual. 
As a rule the black bear goes into his 
den with the first snow fall in the 
autumn and remains there sleeping 
until the snow has melted in the fol- 
lowing spring. 

Both Bige and Bill were curious 
and in order to learn what had wak- 
ened and driven the bear out of his 
bed in mid-winter they followed up 

52 



his back track and soon found that 
his hole under the roots of a big pine 
tree had filled with water during a 
thaw and rain storm of the day be- 
fore. Bruin had been literally "drown- 
ed out." 

After some discussion it was 
agreed that Bige should take the 
skins, complete the circuit of the 
trapping line and return home, while 
Bill hunted bear. This would be easy, 
as it was only necessary to follow the 
bear track in the snow to his new 
den. They both felt certain he would 
"hole up'' again as soon as he found 
a suitable place. Bill followed the zig- 
zag bear trail many miles, giving lit- 
tle heed to direction. This would in- 
deed have been difficult ,as the bear 
had many times stopped to scratch 
away the snow and examine some 
spot to find it not suitable, and then 

53 



start away on a new tack. 

Late in the afternoon Bill came up 
to Bruin's new home. It was under 
the upturned roots of a big spruce 
tree. The tree in falling had lodged 
in the fork of a birch and was held 
at an angle of about forty five de- 
grees. The mass of roots and earth 
torn up thus formed a sloping roof 
over the spot where the bear had dug 
a hole about six feet deep. The snow 
in the woods was deep and the 
ground under it is rarely ever frozen 
during the coldest winters, so it was 
easy for the bear to dig even in Jan- 
uary. 

The bear had scraped away the 
snow and gathered up an armful of 
leaves and moss which he was car- 
rying into his hole when Bill came 
up. He displayed some very human 
characteristics and felt ugly and dis- 

54 



agreeable for having been wakened 
in the middle of his nap. He showed 
his teeth and growled savagely as he 
faced Bill and backed up in the mouth 
of his den. At a distance of fifty feet 
Bill put a bullet in the center of his 
forehead and the bear's troubles 
were soon over, but Bill's troubles 
were just beginning. He was a long 
way from home and lost in the 
woods. It was near night and he had 
a dead bear weighing possibly four 
hundred pounds on his hands. 

It would be difficult to skin the 
bear after the carcass was frozen, 
and it was now growing very cold 
so that job must be done before dark. 
It was hurriedly accomplished, the 
skin rolled up and put in a safe place 
and Bill, consulting his compass, 
started toward the west. He had gone 
about tw r o miles, crossing a ridge, 

55 



and in the valley beyond on the bank 
of a brook he came upon a lumber 
shanty. This he reached with some 
difficulty as it was now quite dark. 
Here he built a fire and spent the 
night. He did not sleep as he had no 
blankets and it was necessary to keep 
the fire going while the mercury 
dropped down far below the zero 
mark. 

Bill reached home by a devious 
route about noon on the following 
day. After resting one night, Bige and 
Bill went back to retrieve the bear 
skin. They took with them a pocket 
lunch, expecting to return before 
night, but there had been a light fall 
of snow and Bill's tracks were oblit- 
erated so they hunted all day without 
finding the spot where the bear was 
killed. They did, however, just at 
night find the shanty where Bill had 

56 



spent a night. Here they both re- 
mained another night, and on the fol- 
lowing morning reached the scene of 
the tragedy. 

They brought out with them not 
only the skin but about fifty pounds 
of bear fat. Bear tallow has many 
and varied uses in an Adirondack 
household. Its curative properties 
cover as wide a range of applications 
as does goose grease in a New Eng- 
land farmhouse. Besides, it is the 
best material in the world to make 
one's shoes waterproof in the melting 
sloshy snow of springtime. 

The bearskin in the course of time 
found its way to the shop of a Sixth 
Avenue furrier and it now occupies 
a position of honor in front of the 
fireplace in my living room, and on a 
cold winter's night my slippered feet 
rest in its soft fur while I read the 

57 



evening news and the wood-fire 
crackles. The head remains a part of 
the rug and in its lower jaw, on the 
right side, the canine tooth is brok- 
en diagonally across and is only half 
as long as the others. Also, the mid- 
dle toe on the left hind foot is mis- 
sing. 

Old Bare-back's back is no longer 
bare. He is now wearing his mid- 
winter coat and his fur is four inches 
long. 



59 





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